Chan Lowe: The DOMA ruling

The DOMA ruling

June 1, 2012|by Chan Lowe

Yes, the tectonic plates, they are a-shiftin’. When the news broke that a three-member federal appeals court declared portions of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, NPR reported that nary a Republican congressional leader could be found who would make him- or herself available for comment on the decision.

The pro-forma response from the anti-gay forces was relegated to one Gary Bauer, a familiar public bloviator who has nothing to lose because he makes his living by fanning the flames of intolerance.

The Republican leadership, on the other hand, realizes it has plenty to lose. The nation’s attitude about whether gays ought to be granted the same rights as other citizens has changed with such breathtaking rapidity that just a few weeks ago, a GOP pollster quietly informed the pooh-bahs that continued gay bashing was a loser issue, both now and in the future. If the Republican Party didn’t want to find itself on the wrong side of history, it would drop the cudgel and move on.

In addition, two of the three appellate jurists involved were appointed, respectively, by Saint Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush—which neutralizes the “liberal activist judge” slur. Hence, the deafening silence.

Increasingly, when you’re talking about gays, you’re talking about someone’s out-of-the-closet family member, and folks don’t take kindly to politicians who cast aspersions on their loved ones.

Banging the drum of bigotry may keep the dollars flowing from some socially conservative groups, but any politician knows full well that if he espouses a position that causes the voters to look upon him with disgust, no amount of money will correct the deficit.

For once, the natural survival instinct of the political animal has worked to the nation’s advantage.